


Lionheart

by ThereisNoTragedyinThat



Series: 30 Days of Whump-Cherik Edition [12]
Category: X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: 30 Day Whump Prompt Challenge, Boys In Love, Don't copy to another site, Hurt Erik Lehnsherr, Hypothermia, M/M, Mutant Road Trip, Powerful Charles Xavier, X-Men: First Class (2011)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-07-10 20:55:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19912072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThereisNoTragedyinThat/pseuds/ThereisNoTragedyinThat
Summary: Recruiting a mutant goes wrong, luckily Erik always has Charles.Day 12: Hypothermia





	Lionheart

**Author's Note:**

> As always, prompt list can be found in the first story!
> 
> Day 12: Hypothermia

The snow was turning red.

That wasn’t right.

He wasn’t bleeding or he didn’t think he was. It was hard to tell with the numbness quickly spreading from limb to limb. Erik swallowed thickly, tried to look around from where he lay in the snow drift. He was forgetting something or was it someone? It didn’t matter, he was too cold to try and sit up.

Erik blew out a sigh, tried to ignore the shivers racking his body, they were exhausting. There wasn’t any metal around, if you didn’t count his belt buckle or the paperclips in his pocket. Hmm…there was something significant about that too. There was supposed to be…something.

All well.

Perhaps he should try to sleep. If he got some rest, he might feel well enough to remember all the important things he should be thinking of. Erik didn’t like the cold, it reminded him of barb wire fences and aching limbs.

_Erik!_

The voice that blasted through his mind made him gasp as pain reverberated through his skull.

_Erik, you need to stay awake! Do you understand me?!_

That voice was familiar, but Erik just groaned, dragging up a hand to grip his head.

_Erik!_

Oh. That was what he’d forgotten. Charles.

_Yes, its me. I’m coming. You’re going to be alright._

Of course, he was, he was always alright. Though he still wanted to get some rest…

_Erik don’t you dare!_

He huffed, tried to shift a bit and found he couldn’t. Erik couldn’t disobey Charles, didn’t want to be the reason that frown settled on his lips, wouldn’t be. He’d stay awake, just until Charles arrived then he’d rest.

There were no more responses which meant he was probably doing something right. Erik sighed a little and frowned at where the snow was still red. That should probably be concerning, all well. Maybe he had killed someone. They probably deserved it.

Hands settled, stiff and strange, on his shoulders and Erik felt himself being turned over abruptly. Blinking through the delicately falling snow, he stared up at Charles’s panicked expression. That wasn’t right, he shouldn’t be so worried, Erik had, after all, obeyed.

Part of him wanted to reassure Charles, wanted to run a hand through that dishevelled hair, but he was already drifting off, content that for now, he’d done enough. He was truly exhausted.

\---

Erik woke with a start, entire body tensing as he took in plain plaster ceilings and thick comforters wrapped around his otherwise naked body. His mind was too groggy for comfort, but he reached out instinctively for any metal that might be near by.

The room was rife with it. The usual suspects were scattered about; nails, screws, pens, paperclips. There were also more unexpected tools, a gun over by the little table in the corner, hidden beneath damp clothing, ancient feeling fire pokers on the far wall, a knife nestled by the window, razors in the bathroom.

Perfect.

Before Erik could react to the pulsing of the metallic waves in the air, he sensed something else. Painfully familiar enough to send his heart racing with uncertainty. A watch, nearly fifty years old and in mint condition. The metal of it was as familiar as the coin he usually kept in his pocket, warmed by the skin that always wore it.

Charles.

_Erik?_

He startled, not expecting the reply.

_Sorry, I’m coming in now._

The door creaked open as if on command to reveal Charles, rather dishevel in his puffy winter coat and windswept hair. Erik decidedly did not think about how utterly attractive he seemed in that moment, there were more important things to worry about.

“How are you feeling?”

The sound of his physical voice was yet another shock, why did everything feel so sensitive all of a sudden?

“I’m…fine.”

Charles grimaced as he sat on the edge of the bed, looking down on him with thinly veiled concern, “what do you remember?”

The question coupled with Charles’s hand resting lightly on his stomach left Erik confused and unsettled. Oh. That was what felt so wrong, how _had_ he ended up here? He recalled their preparations to go and find a new mutant, one who had sequestered himself in the woods and had taken on a decidedly hermit lifestyle.

Charles had been apprehensive and Erik…he’d been excited at the prospect of a more experienced mutant on the team. He’d been powerful but they weren’t entirely sure what his mutation was just yet.

He recalled getting in the car and going down a snowpack road that quickly fell into disrepair. There had been a popping, a flat tire, and Erik’s senses had felt metal hidden carefully beneath the snow a moment too late.

They’d gotten out…

Charles’s mental voice in his head…panicked…pain…something hard and solid had hit him on the head.

Erik looked up at Charles, whose eyes were somewhat distant, clearly listening in as he recalled what exactly had happened. Something tightened in his chest and he found his eyes roaming over Charles, looking for injuries, and feeling a distinct sensation of failure.

“I’m alright Erik,” he murmured.

“The man…his ability was a mix of telepathy and telekinesis,” he explained. “The telepathy was weak from years of suppression, but it was still the reason he chose to seclude himself from society.”

Charles’s expression was much too sympathetic for Erik’s liking.

He offered a smile, gripped Erik’s hand, “he was unstable. He had been honing his telekinesis for years as a defense mechanism. Still, he knew enough of his telepathy to block me and I needed to get in closer range before I could stop him.”

“You-” Erik paused not sure what to say to that.

Charles shook his head, “I’m so sorry. It took longer then it should have and by the time I got back you were freezing and your head-”

Absently, Erik reached up to feel along his scalp, grimacing when he came in contact with dried blood, but quickly found the place he’d been hit was nothing more then a small gash. It was practically nothing, but the immobilization made him burn with embarrassment.

If he had been anywhere else, with anyone else, Erik would already be getting up from the bed and maybe demanding they get back to the base if only to avoid sheer humiliation. But Charles was sitting there, watching him with such honest concern that Erik found himself wanting to stay, to be taken care of.

Not a good sign.

A ghost of a smile crossed Charles’s lip.

_Its funny you think you have a choice._

Erik blinked up at him.

Charles grinned for real.

_You aren’t leaving that bed until I say so._

The words were accompanied by a series of images, many of them involving Charles’s intent to take care of him and make sure he wasn’t going to end up sick from the encounter…but there were also, far less innocent ones.

Erik suddenly found he didn’t mind being Charles’s prisoner.


End file.
